The Purpose of Acquiring Knowledge

THE PURPOSE OF ACQUIRINGKNOWLEDGE

Congratulations On The Greatest BountyIt is Allāh’s great favour that He conferred us withattachment to knowledge, the desire to study and teachit, and enthusiasm for it. We all went to our respectivehomes in Sha‛bān. For about six weeks we moved awayfrom the programme of the madrasah and spent ourtime with the freedom to do as we liked. There are manywho, through Allāh’s inspiration, spent their holidaysprofitably. There are others whose holidays are spent infutile activities and sins, and in passing the time lazily.After spending six weeks away from the madrasah, Allāhta‛ālā inspired you to come back. This is a great favourof Allāh ta‛ālā. Some people slip up during the holidays[and do not return to the madrasah]. Others slip up atthe very beginning of the year. While yet others slip upin the middle of the year. Shaytān casts various types ofwhisperings such as the food in the madrasah is notgood, the boarding is not good, the classmates are notfriendly, the roommates are not good, the timetable isdifficult, studies themselves are difficult, Arabic isdifficult, there is no compatibility with the teachers, themadrasah is very far from home, my mother is alone athome, my father is alone, my brothers and sisters willfall into evil [in my absence], and so on. Shaytān createsvarious types of thoughts and some people fall as aresult of these whisperings.We must first be grateful to Allāh ta‛ālā for having savedus from this, enabled us to return to our alma mater,and returned us to the laps of our teachers. We mustmake this resolution that we have to study for anotheryear, to continue studying until we complete our course,and to remain attached to this work [of serving Dīn]until our last dying moments. I congratulate all you whoare seeking the knowledge of prophet-hood over thisgreatest of bounties; and while applying this Sunnah ofRasūlullāh sallallāhu ‛alayhi wa sallam, I welcome youall on my behalf and on behalf of the teachers.